Roadside Restoration: Distressed Turquoise Chair

January 6, 2012

I’ve got a few design clients that I am working on projects for right now, and one happens to be a good friend of mine. Her style is traditional-eclectic and it has been enjoyable to introduce some unique elements into her space. The latest part of her home that we’ve been transforming is her master bedroom. Upon choosing a sunshine yellow for the walls and a floral patterned rug with bursts of color, I made the suggestion of introducing elements of turquoise! A chair was a must for the space, and with my radar-alert always turned on, I actually found one on the side of the road. Remember when I shared this picture on my facebook page? Yes, that’s the chair on top of all of my groceries – I couldn’t leave it behind.

Once I got the go-ahead, I started to transform the chair. I knew exactly what I wanted to do… Distress Turquoise. {beauty}!

The chair was obviously headed for the junkyard, so it was in desperate need for a makeover once I got my hands on it! Here’s how it looked before .

I started off by removing the seat…

Sanded all the surfaces with my orbital sander…

And was ready to start spray painting. For this chair makeover, I decided on Valspar Tropical Oasis. I’ve been wanting to use this color for SO LONG and was thrilled to finally get the opportunity.

Spray painting can sometimes be tricky! If you need some tips, check out {this post}.

Once the spray paint was completely dried (about one day later), I was able to begin the distressing. I used the same steps as I did to create my foyer cabinet, but here’s a recap:

I diluted brown paint with 1 part water, 1 part paint. Using my Purdy brush, I lightly brushed on the water-paint mixture.

Brush on the water-paint mixture in sections – I started with the chair legs, then moved onto the seat back. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.

Using a clean, lint-free rag, wipe away the paint. Depending on how much distressing you want, you can vary your degrees of wiping pressure. (wipe alot for less distressing and wipe alittle for more distressing)

And you’re done. Now move on to the next section, until the entire piece of furniture is completely distressed.

I call the distressed overlay “glaze”, but it’s not really glaze, but instead this water-paint mixture that I created. This is a step by step of me applying the water-paint mixture to the chair back and then “wiping” it off with the rag. The “glaze” is fairly forgiving. Again, the more you wipe, the less distressed the result.

To add a bit more distress to this chair, I also lightly sanded some of the edges with medium grit sandpaper. This just added to the “aged” aesthetic.

Once the edges were slightly sanded and the “glaze” was dried, which didn’t take a long time, I applied 2 coats of polyurethane to seal the chair. (don’t forget this step – it’s important)

It wasn’t complete yet, since there was nothing to sit on and I wouldn’t dare put that old yellow crushed-velvet-like fabric back on. I searched and searched and found this fabric that I thought would be perfect for the buttercup yellow room!

I removed the old seat fabric (there was actually three layers of old fabric) and was left with this…

And then it was time to add my newly chosen pretty fabric! I flipped over the seat…

Using a staple gun, I attached the fabric to the underside of the seat.

Recovering a seat is really easy and can make a huge difference in updating the look. The corners though can sometimes be tricky, so here’s an easy step-by-step pictorial of how I created them.

The completed seat…

And the finished chair…

I was so happy with the outcome of this chair and the color is exactly what I had envisioned. I just wish…

… it could be mine! Doesn’t it look so pretty in this spot?! Unfortunately though, I delivered it to my friend and it now sits perfectly in her bedroom :)

Don’t you just love turquoise? It really is one of my favorite colors. When I ordered the fabric for this chair, I also ordered a few other fabrics to make new pillows for my living room and guess what color they have in them?? Yes…you guess – turquoise! I’ll share more soon!!

Comments

I had some chairs that went with my grandmother’s dining room set that they bought in the 1940’s and I recovered them. It does make a huge difference for a little price. I ended up selling the set and wish I had kept it and painted it. This post makes me miss them more. Beautiful job!!! I love the torquioise and yellow combination!Cindy recently posted..Second Edition